Christmas '09

Christmas turned out to be great in the middle of nowhere. Emily and I spent Xmas eve in her town, Iwaizumi, and went to a restaurant/bar called Miyo-chan. Great start - we ordered some fried eggplant, tofu, and some basashi (aka raw horse meat), which was all very well prepared. Had a few beers to chase it all down. Right as we were finishing, however, the owners came up to us and invited the two of us to attend their little christmas party, conveniently being held in the booth next to us. Aside from Emily and I, there were 4 other people: the 2 proprietors, and 3 of their friends (one of whom's daughter I teach at Kita apparently). So of course we obligingly move ourselves over to the other booth, where they immediately break out a grill, what seems like an endless amount of lamb, multiple bottles of beer, whiskey, and sake, and some of the best if not the best homemade pickled vegetables and dried persimmons. The lamb was by far the best, as we set it on the grille for no more than 20 seconds at a time, searing the outside perfectly while the inside was still left raw and tender. Applied a bit of the soy based sauce following, and that was that. Spent the night eating, talking, and eventually trying our hand at karaoke. We even got presents from them, and I hadn't ever met these people before.

Woke up the next morning at about 830, walked around town a bit. While Emily contests that Iwaizumi is at the depths of boredom and solitude, its not without its charm. Situated in between 2 mountains, the first and most obvious thing about the place is the extent of the sheer natural beauty surrounding you. And with the trees lining the mountains, I can only imagine the effect those leaves turning red in the autumn can have on the place. Anyway, we walk around a bit, grab some breakfast at this quaint little cafe, stop by a DIY crafts shop that I'll definitely be back to, and then head back to her place to grab her car in order to go to our first real destination of the day, Ryusendo Caves. While we didn't actually enter this time (she's a bit strapped for cash and the entrance fee is 1000 yen), the surrounding scenery is sufficient enough to sate any appetite for that special kind of Japanese nostalgic beauty that you see so often in movies and paintings. Ryusendo is, in a word, gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. Little streams running all around, trees spaced sparsely but affectively, there's a kind of lonely beauty about the place, esoteric in the way that it feels like there's a history there that can only be touched by certain initiates. But looking on it with those naive eyes perhaps makes it even more of an experience, allowing you to retain the awe of something so seemingly pure. And pure it is: Ryusendo is famous throughout Japan as one of the largest underground limsetsone caves, with what is considered some of the purest water in Japan (they have a thing for water up here). I tried some - its ok. Tastes like snow.

From there, we drove about 40 minutes north to Unoso, some cliffs overlooking the ocean that are very well known as a popular suicide jumping point. Fitting, considering the holiday, right? Apparently, the Japanese have quite a bit of superstition concerning that area, as in there's just something about the place that draws one to its edges. Suffice to say, that kind of occult shit intrigues the hell out of me so I was all smiles when we got there. And, as it turns out, there is no more beautiful place in the world than Unoso. Words fail in this case, so I'll leave it to you to decide what you think after looking at the pictures that follow. Funny though, when we were leaving a cop was walking towards the cliffs, asking if anyone else was there. Presumably, hes checking for suicide cases.

From there we went to my favorite kind of onsen (hot spring), and that is the homely kind. Small place, wanting for any serious decor, but nevertheless exactly what I needed after a day of hiking. There's nothing like sitting in a hot spring by yourself outside staring at the moon at dusk. Got out, drank a beer and had some onigiri while waiting for Emily, and headed for Miyako, where the Christmas dinner of Christmas dinners was just waiting to be assembled...

Pretty much the same menu as I offered a few days ago, but for clarity's sake, here's what I prepared:

- Seared Yellowfin tuna with simple tomato-cab-garlic-chili-pepper reduction as sauce, topped with caramelized onions.
- Bean sprouts, carrots, cabbage with boiled mackeral, and topped with cucumber and shiso, a bit of chili oil.
- Mashed potatoes (with soymilk and margerine) and broccoli, with wine & garlic aus jous.

Bangin'. I'm eating leftovers as I type this. Drank some wine, watched the Its Always Sunny Christmas special, and went to bed.

Christmas Eve






Ryusendo










Unoso